Books like A Lion in the Meadow
By Margaret Mahy
For the kid whose made-up monsters feel utterly real, this book takes their word for it. Playful, a little strange, quietly thought-provoking.
A pig who has every toy imaginable unwraps a Christmas box containing nothing at all — and has to figure out, with friends, what to do with an empty box.
A sturdy farm girl named Fanny Agnes waits in her garden for a fairy godmother to whisk her off to the mayor's grand ball and her destined prince — but who actually shows up changes everything.
Two kids stuck inside on a rainy day get an uninvited visitor — a tall cat in a striped hat who promises fun and games while their mother is away.
A girl determined to make her own dragon for craft time struggles when her classmates don't recognize her creation — until a story from Grandma and help from her family spark something truly hers.
On the day before Christmas, the very first snow falls and children build a snowman who comes to life the moment a magic hat lands on his head.
A group of children build a snowman one winter's day and watch him come to life, sharing in the wonder and fun of a magical friend made of snow.
A collection of poems imagines a curious inn run by poet William Blake, where dragons, angels, and a Man in the Moon all check in for the night.
A boy walks home from school and imagines wilder and wilder sights on Mulberry Street, building a story fantastic enough to tell his father.
While the other field mice work all autumn gathering corn and nuts for winter, a quiet mouse gathers sun rays, colors, and words instead — and when the food runs low, his stories are what feed everyone.
A team of kid inventors heads to the zoo armed with zany traps and rhyming plans, determined to outsmart and catch the rainbow-maned unicorn.
A proud French mouse, ashamed that his kind survive on stolen scraps, sneaks into a cheese factory at night and leaves the workers honest notes rating every wheel he tastes.
A girl who loves gorillas longs for her too-busy father to take her to see one, until the night before her birthday brings an extraordinary, moonlit visitor.
